


The JABberwocky

by ellethom



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Boners are nothing to be afraid of, F/M, Jabberwock - Freeform, Jaime's Awkward Boner June Fest, Lewis Carroll - Freeform, Sorry Joe Diffe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 17:28:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11189904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellethom/pseuds/ellethom
Summary: This is my entry for the Awkward Boner June Fest.





	The JABberwocky

The first time it happened, he had been embarrassed. Jaime had no idea why he was aroused, he just was. They had been swimming in the large pool at Casterly where Brienne had finally agreed to spend their spring break. He’d asked her for a year to come and visit his family home, but she always had some big paper or an exam to do.

He’d muttered about more beer and pulled himself out of the pool and into the back door before Brienne could realize he was standing at full mast.

The second and third times were easier. Jaime had produced full wood from watching her load groceries into her car. He stood back, she was certain the tall wench didn't even know he was in the vicinity. He felt like some deeply disturbed stalker, ogling his prey from the comfort of his own car. It was so bad, that the third erection popped in the same way, he in his car, and her just walking across the parking lot of the Admin building. 

The fourth time was the one that caused all the fuss. He knew he would get caught eventually; his nightly fantasies had begun to run wild and Jaime knew it was only a matter of time before this call back to eighth grade would blow up in his-or someone else’s-face.

Something as innocuous as a hug should not make both parties so uncomfortable. But, there was the uninvited guest to consider; the one with little brain, shit timing, and absolutely no consideration for propriety.

“Jaime?” she said pulling away from his arms. Brienne offered him a quizzical glare and tilted her head. “Is that a gun in your pocket?”

“Just happy to see you, Wench.” He knew his flippant response belied the severity of the situation; after four semesters of being ‘good friends’ Jaime was ready for more. He was not, however, ready to alight upon a situation that would endanger a friendship that had become as necessary as breathing. He sighed and dipped his head as Brienne took another step away; not meeting his eyes. “Sorry,” he had said after that first time. 

Brienne had smiled at him with those big blue eyes, patted his shoulder and said that all should beware of the Jabberwock. 

That damn Lewis Carroll bit of nonsense had somehow stuck.

Jaime’s frequent uninvited mishaps had become a source of great amusement for her. Most of the time, Brienne would shove him and tell him he needed to get laid. “Beware the Jabberwock, Jaime.”

If only she knew, if only she would just, look.

Nights studying for exams and too much coffee. They shared a kiosk in the library, rides to campus and the more than occasional night fallen asleep as some asinine movie played them bleary lullabies.

And all that time, she never knew, never looked.

It was easier to laugh them off, to make a nervous joke between two friends,. Brienne had even suggested a trip to the but Jaime knew how he felt, and he knew even a whisper of it would send the object of his arousal running for cover. 

After the tenth time, she even suggested a trip to the campus clinic to make sure he wasn't in the early throes of some horrible medical condition that would leave him infertile or worse. “No more sightings of the Jabberwock.”

“So, you would miss him if he were run through with a vorpal sword?”

All at once she had offered him a rare toothy grin (she often hid the fact those braces she had worn for four years could only do so much) “I think the wild Bandersnatch should be considered an endangered species.”

Jaime knew that Brienne had had bad experiences with men; and that was a kindness in it's underestimation in the stupidity of most of his gender. Sure, she was ugly, too tall, and he was certain her feet were bigger than his. 

And not to forget the stubborn streak she had that would make a mule bow in supplication.

But, her eyes were every unfinished thought hung in the air for all eternity.

Once, in a fit of pique, he had thought to write a poem about them, to shove it anonymously under her door, something for those large feet to step over and perhaps trounce upon as nonsensical as that damn Jabberwock. 

Thus, he now kept a small notebook with half dangled participles, misplaced modifiers, and slanted rhyme.

Now, in the last moments before the world ended and they were freed from the shackles of student life, Jaime began to panic. What if he never saw her again? Or, worse yet, what if she became nothing but an updated status of FaceWall? A notice of her impending marriage to some idiot who would never appreciate the horsey laugh she let fly at Cary Grant movies, or the way she never quite finished a tub of ice cream, always leaving the last spoonful. Some idiot would never appreciate her love of old books, and her hatred of EPUB and MOBI in equal measures. She had always told him there was nothing that could compare to the feel of a book in one’s hands; nor the smell of pages and how no two books smelled the same. Brienne swore that each one carried it's own individual soul. 

These thoughts lead to a desperation that had kept him from the final graduation parties last night. That, and knowing that he had one chance to get her to look, to get her to see.

Brienne stood next to her poorly packed car with a look of anticipation. She was due in Tarth for the obligatory welcome home from her family. Jaime stood just inches away, wanting to touch her, scared of her running off. “Let’s not make this a goodbye.” she said, though the rough edges of her voice belied the fear that they would never see each other again. Jaime knew, it was the same fear coursing through him.

“In no universe is this a goodbye.” Jaime asserted with his hands stuck in his pockets. “I am certain we will see each other again, soon.” He winked at her and offered a wolfish grin. “You’ll miss the Jabberwock, you should watch for the Tumtum tree.”

There was only one road out of the small seaside college town, and Jaime didn't have time to watch her set off. He had a date to keep and he knew it would take her ten minutes of adjusted mirrors and seats, GPS plotting, and a silent prayer to the Smith before embarking on her long drive.

________________________________________

He had been acting strangely for three months. Actually, it had been a solid year that he had been odd, but the last three months he had become suddenly...chivalrous. Holding doors open for her, pulling out chairs, even in class. There had even been a rumor of a secondary tale of why Red Ronnet had let school suddenly.

Any other woman at the receiving end would understand these as small acts of a man interested. But, as she looked into the rear view mirror and squinted at her own asymmetrical features and homely face, Brienne knew these were nothing more than Jaime’s way of saying he would miss his friend.

She had been upset when he had disappeared the night before, everyone was going to Graduation parties, but Brienne knew that wasn't Jaime’s scene, she had assumed that they would spend a final night together, watching old movies and trying not to cry. But her texts had gone unanswered and her phone calls went to voicemail. She would have worried had she not recalled that his sister was in town for his graduation. Cersei had graduated the year before, now worked for their father in Lannisport. Brienne could not begrudge him his indulgences, nor could she rightfully argue the sudden and insistent jealousy that had twisted in her stomach for the entire night. She had no claim to him, and for that she was glad that their time had come to an end.

At least, that was what had helped her drive away.

She’d even grinned at his limp and disheveled appearance when he had shown up to see her off; a joke about his night’s activity had soured in her throat before she could utter anything more than to question his state. He had only grinned and insisted they would see each other again, soon.

She wanted him so bad sometimes the ache drove her to temporary madnesses. Like ignoring his ongoing relationship with his sister and settling for whatever she could get. Even if that mean silent never touches and a closeness between them that belied the ever present distance of her own feelings slowly drowning her.

The only road out of town had a QuikStop before the juncture to turn to the state highway. Along the route was the old water tower that was often abused in the worst ways. At least once a year, some idiot would climb it and try some stupid fete of strength just to write some message on it. Typically, it was the senior graduating class, but the word around campus was that the town officials weren't standing for it this year, and the ancient thing had been left unmolested.

After procuring all the healthy snack she could find in the ramshackle convenience store, Brienne pulled back onto the two lane road and sighed. Leaving him had been hard, and it was harder with each mile marker.

Three miles up the road, the water tower came into view in the right corner of her windscreen. Someone had painted it , some drunken reveler had managed to pull it off in the last days of his or her college life. 

The closer she got, the more she was certain that she could make out what it said. Brienne pulled to the side of the road near Willow Lake Drive and turned off. She had to look, she had to see.

_________________________________________________

“Took you long enough to turn up, Wench.” Jaime said, he was eased over the side of his expensive car with his ankles crossed.

“Jaim,” she asked, still looking up. “What did you do?”

“You see it, then?” he asked “You looked?”

On the water tower, in letters three foot high, spelled out a message for all to see, but only the two of them would understand.

“THE JABBERWOCK IS NOTHING TO FEAR!” And a heart, of course there would be a heart. A ten foot heart no less.

“Took me forever to find a color that matched your eyes, Brienne. I had to go three towns over and argue with the paint store for two hours, two hours! They are literally matchless, Brienne, your eyes I mean.”

“What are you trying to say, Jaime?” she asked.

Jaime sighed and pushed himself toward her. “Of course, I finally get you to see, to look, and still you don't understand.”

But, Brienne did understand, it was disbelief that clouded her eyes. “Is this where you were last night?”

“You were looking for me?” he grinned, moving closer to her. “Were you worried about me, or were you missing me?”

“I thought--”

“You thought I had climbed between my sister’s legs again? Have you not been seeing, Brienne? Every time I am near you, my body reacts in ways that used to only be for her. Never for her again, not anymore.” His hand was stroking her cheek, and Brienne found herself leaning into every fantasy she had ever allowed herself in the dead of night.

“Jaime,” she said again for want of words. He kissed her then, in the still cool morning sun beneath words he had risked his life to write. 

“I told you we would see each other, soon.” he kissed her again. Brienne felt it then, the same presence that had become a third party in their friendship. “Ah, and so the Jabberwock has returned.” he smiled. 

Brienne made to move away but Jaime held her face and snaked an arm around her waist. “We are not running from it, Brienne. I meant it.” His eyes flickered up to the message. “The Jabberwock is nothing to fear.”

“For me?” she asked in a small voice.

“For such a long time, now.” he sighed into her neck and traced kisses along her nape. “The question is, what are we gonna do about it.”

____________________________________________________________

 

The town had argued for years about what to do with the water tower. The thing had been painted over ten times in thirty years, and yet. The large blue heart bled through. Even through the black paint that the Tao Alphas had used to proclaim that Rock and Roll would never die.

Most of the townies, the locals scratched their heads and wondered why anyone would use blue for a heart. Most folks thought it had been some idiot Lit major hell bent on announcing the end of the world as prophesied in Carroll’s sacred texts. Some thought it was just a stupid prank and as nonsensical as that damn poem.

Either way, no matter where you stood in town, on a clear day, you could see the damn thing as if it had been painted last Friday.

When the town council had decided that it was time to tear down the ancient marker and allow for some newer more useful eyesore that the town could look at, they received a very generous donation from Lanniscorp to purchase the thing and keep it standing. 

Who were they to argue with nonsense?


End file.
